[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-665004-105":59,"doc-detail-665004-en":129},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":122,"head_meta":124,"extra_data":126,"updated_unix":128},105,"en","chapter-10-coffins-presenceabsence-of-coffins","Chapter 10 - Coffins - Presence/Absence of Coffins","","Chapter 10 examines coffins recovered from the New York African Burial Ground, focusing on how coffin use varied across demographic and temporal groups. It reports coffin presence and absence, analyzes how spatial, age, and sex patterns relate to historical disruptions during the Revolutionary War and British occupation, and compares coffin burial with the occurrence of associated artifact types such as pins, clothing, and jewelry. The chapter further outlines coffin forms, materials, construction, decoration, and the treatment, identification, and quantification of coffin-related remains.",{"@graph":69,"@context":121},[70,84,104],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/chapter-10-coffins-presenceabsence-of-coffins/665004/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":98,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":99,"interactionStatistic":100},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/chapter-10-coffins-presenceabsence-of-coffins/665004.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"404brain","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29",true,{"@type":101,"interactionType":102,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":103},"ViewAction",{"@type":105,"mainEntity":106},"FAQPage",[107,113,117],{"name":108,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":110},"What does the chapter report about coffin presence and absence at the New York African Burial Ground?","Question",{"text":111,"@type":112},"It presents distributions of coffin presence or absence across demographic and temporal groups and summarizes how most graves—especially children’s graves—contained coffins, while fewer adult and some other burials lacked them.","Answer",{"name":114,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":115},"How is coffin absence explained in historical context?",{"text":116,"@type":112},"The chapter links coffinless burial patterns to economic and social disruptions during the Revolutionary War and British military occupation of New York, while suggesting coffin burial had been the norm in the New York African community prior to that period.",{"name":118,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":119},"How do associated artifacts relate to coffins in the analysis?",{"text":120,"@type":112},"Burials with coffins are reported to be much more likely to have pins, and coffinless burials sometimes show notable proportional associations with clothing and jewelry, which the chapter discusses as evidence against interpreting the lack of coffins strictly as poverty.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":123,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":125,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":127,"site_id":62},665004,1793284999,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":130},{"doc_id":127,"user_id":131,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":132,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":133,"file_id":134,"file_url":135,"file_type":136,"file_size":137,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":31,"language":138,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":139,"faqs":140,"seo_title":141,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":128,"read_time":142},1099529839291,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Chapter 10  \nCoffins  \nJean Howson and Leonard G. Bianchi with the assistance ofIciar LucenaNarvaez  \nand Janet L. Woodruff  \nCoffin remains (wood and hardware) were by far the most ubiquitous artifacts recovered from graves atthe New York African Burial Ground. In this chapter we report on the distribution of coffins among demographic and temporal groups and examine the historical context for coffin use. We then provide descriptive information on the shapes, sizes, material, construction, and decoration of coffins represented at the excavated cemetery. Finally, we describe the material remains that were recovered from coffinsand their treatment, identification, and quantification.  \nPresence/Absence of Coffins  \nAs discussed in Chapter 5, the vast majority of the graves excavated at the New York African Burial Ground had coffins (Table 31, which includes burials for which presence or absence of a coffin could be determined, whether or not human remains were recovered). All of the children’s graves had coffins. Of adults, 85.7 percent of our sample (186 of 217 adult burials for which the presence or absence of a coffin could be determined) was buried in coffins. (See Tables 23, 25, 27, and 29 for coffin presence/absence by individual burial.)  \nAs discussed in Chapters 4 and 9, the presence or absence of a coffin co-varied with spatial location within the excavated site and with the age and sex of the deceased—this patterning suggests that coffinless burial took place in the context of economic and social disruptions during the Revolutionary War and British military occupation of New York (1776–1783) . Prior to this, coffin burial appears to  \nhave been the norm in the African community of New York.1  \nIn addition to the distribution of coffins by age, sex, and temporal group, we examined coffin presence/absence in relation to other types of artifacts. Burials with coffins were much more likely to have pins (205 of 301, or 68.1 percent) than those without coffins (6 of 31, or 20 percent) .2 It is possible that the presence of a coffin enhanced the preservation environment and therefore increased the survival of pins. However, a more likely explanation for the observed frequency distribution is that pins, like lumber for coffins, were in short supply during the war and/or that refugees who died during the British occupation had no family to provide a shroud. As noted in Chapter 4, clothing and jewelry items were present in clear association with the deceased in 6 coffinless burials, which argues against interpreting the lack of a coffin as strictly a function of poverty.  \n1 Our specific historical explanation for coffinless burial as well as our chronological sequence contrast with those advanced for Newton Plantation in Barbados. There, the earliest (seventeenth century) rather than the later (late eighteenth and early nineteenth century) burials were without coffins, and change over time in mortuary practice, with increasing adoption of coffins owing to European influence, is suggested (Handler and Lange 1978:162, 192–193) . We do not know if any of the burials excavated at the New York African Burial Ground are as early as the earliest graves at Newton Plantation—the earliest New York graves may have lain outside the excavated area. It is possible that, as in Barbados, seventeenth-century African burialsin New York were without coffins, but our data do not speak to this or to the issue of European influences on the use of coffins.  \n2 Percentages are based on 326 burials (296 with coffins, 30 without) where coffin presence/absence could be determined and preservation was “y,” in addition to 5 coffin burials and 1 coffinless burial with“n” preservation that also had pins.  \nTable 31. Coffin Presence or Absence, by Sex, Age, and Temporal Group  \n\n| Burials | Count |  |  |  | Percent |  |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n|  | Present | Absent | Total |  | Present | Absent |\n|  | By Sex and Age |  |  |  |  |  |\n| Adu","cbCaijUTIp8Iw04I","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijUTIp8Iw04I","pdf",4724595,"English","# Chapter 10\n## Coffins\n## Presence/Absence of Coffins\n## Coffin Production and Provision","[{\"question\":\"What does the chapter report about coffin presence and absence at the New York African Burial Ground?\",\"answer\":\"It presents distributions of coffin presence or absence across demographic and temporal groups and summarizes how most graves—especially children’s graves—contained coffins, while fewer adult and some other burials lacked them.\"},{\"question\":\"How is coffin absence explained in historical context?\",\"answer\":\"The chapter links coffinless burial patterns to economic and social disruptions during the Revolutionary War and British military occupation of New York, while suggesting coffin burial had been the norm in the New York African community prior to that period.\"},{\"question\":\"How do associated artifacts relate to coffins in the analysis?\",\"answer\":\"Burials with coffins are reported to be much more likely to have pins, and coffinless burials sometimes show notable proportional associations with clothing and jewelry, which the chapter discusses as evidence against interpreting the lack of coffins strictly as poverty.\"}]","Chapter 10 - Coffins - Presence/Absence of Coffins | PDF",126]